London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
View report page
Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Croydon 1936
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Croydon]
This page requires JavaScript
Table V.
| Extent of Defect. | Intermediate. | Leavers. | Total. | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boys. | Girls. | Boys. | Girls. | Boys. | Girls. | ||||||
| No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | ||
| Normal : 6/6ths or 6/9ths | 1187 | 95.9 | 1114 | 96.0 | 908 | 92.4 | 577 | 92.7 | 94.3 | 94.9 | |
| 1187 | 95.9 | 1108 | 95.5 | 914 | 93.0 | 563 | 90.5 | 94.6 | 93.8 | ||
| 6/12ths or 6/24ths | 44 | 3.5 | 44 | 3.8 | 64 | 6.5 | 41 | 6.6 | 4.9 | 4.8 | |
| 45 | 3.6 | 48 | 4.1 | 60 | 6.1 | 48 | 7.7 | 4.7 | 5.4 | ||
| 6/36ths or worse | 7 | 0.6 | 2 | 0.2 | 11 | 1.1 | 4 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 0.3 | |
| 6 | 0.5 | 4 | 0.4 | 9 | 0.9 | 11 | 1.8 | 0.7 | 0.8 | ||
Table VI. TEETH.
| Entrants. | Intermediate. | Leavers. | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boys. | Girls. | Boys. | Girls. | Boys. | Girls. | |||||||
| No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | |
| Perfect set of Teeth | 818 | 48.0 | 743 | 48.6 | 887 | 71.6 | 840 | 72.4 | 783 | 79.7 | 486 | 78.1 |
| One to four Decayed | 476 | 28.0 | 416 | 27.2 | 205 | 16.6 | 180 | 15.5 | 137 | 13.9 | 106 | 17.1 |
| Four or more Decayed | 408 | 24.0 | 369 | 24.2 | 146 | 11.8 | 140 | 12.1 | 63 | 6.4 | 30 | 4.8 |
| Totals | 1702 | 1528 | 1238 | 1160 | 983 | 622 | ||||||
It is interesting to note that 5,066 children of all groups, or
63.0 per cent., were said to have sound teeth at medical inspection.
The percentage of sound teeth found by the Dental Inspectors was
28 per cent. The examination made by the dentists is more searching
than that made by the medical inspectors, who are instructed
to concentrate rather on purely medical signs. The need for
systematic instruction on the care of the teeth is certainly indicated.
This is one of the investigations now carried out at routine medical
inspections which could, without any loss, be discontinued. As the
school dental service has become more developed, the examination
of the teeth could be left to them.
That the proper care of the teeth before the school age is reached
would lead to much less attention being necessary during school age
is repeatedly emphasised in the dental section of the report.